J

- after Claire Wahmanholm

J is for the first letter in the names of each of my three 
older daughters, whose father wanted to continue his family's 
tradition of naming. J has no equivalent letter in baybayin,
nor in the Filipino abakada or the Ilocano kinur-it. In Spanish,
J sounds breathy and open, unlike the hard consonant we think
it is. Jamón, jéfe, juego, jóya, jardín; even jubílo, which in English
we know as joy. I was just eighteen, had just started wearing
jeans, was jittery around students on campus (more hip, already
jaded). Marrying young, perhaps I jettisoned my better judgment 
into the bushes; but I promise, it was no jezebel that stepped out. 
When I juxtapose that time against this, I still sometimes hear
the quiet ping of jackstones on porch tile and the children's
voices counting; the clink of jade bangles around their wrists.